bridging the everyday to the global effects on our environment

Water: Hidden Everywhere – Vegan Day 21

It’s Sunday and the Sun is out and the birds are singing on my 21st vegan day!

Since I started being interested in living a more sustainable life, many things I learned have surprised me.

One of them is the hidden use of water there is in producing pretty much anything we might use during the day, from what we eat, to what we drink, from what we wear to which kind of fuel and energy source we use, everything has a “water cost”.

Some of the water may be needed to grow the food that feeds the animals that will be used for meat, some will be used during the processing…

Would you believe that 2,500 litres of water are needed to produce 1 single burger, most of which goes towards the production of the beef? With all the burgers eaten in the world in a day, I actually don’t understand how we still have any water left…!

And chocolate? 12,000 litres for 500g, a pound of chocolate! Another reason not to over indulge in this precious food…

One T-Shirt needs 2,700 litres…I’m glad I never ever throw away clothes but give them to charity!

The thing is, no matter where you are, every one of us could do more to use less and waste less precious water!

With all the aquatic species that are key to our ecosystem’s balance, and the world’s fresh water being so limited (only 2.5% of all the water on Earth!), it’s really essential to be careful with the amount of water we use.

Florida Everglades: I don’t want these wetlands to dry up! Photo from National Geographic